Jak and Daxter Rebirth
by Celcius
Summary: As Jak and Daxter search for a way to change Daxter back, a young woman they found tries to remember her past.  But does this amnesiac have more at stake in the boys's first journey than any of them could have realized?  -intro thru ch.2 have been edited-
1. Introduction

Absolutely LUUURVE the Jak and Daxter series (I'll even play The Lost Frontier, though I have to drink a lot to like it…) so I decided to make my comeback with a J&D story I'd had in mind for a long time.

Enjoy my little perversion of canon storyline. :D

(((((o)))))

The Precursor leader stared down at the mass of burnt flesh and dark eco that was once an elf creature of the world that floated below the Precursor ship. Empty eye sockets stared back at him. What was left of melted flesh clung to bone, jaw hanging open in shock. Even her mostly skeletal body was still stuck in a position indicative of great pain. One of her fingers finally gave way and fell to the ground with a small clatter. He shook his head in sadness at the cruel end of the young woman. There had been so much potential for her, and now…

He turned to the other two Precursor ottsels in his company and studied them for a long moment, still thinking.

"How do you propose we fix this?" There was more silence as the younger two creatures pondered over the question. They all knew the answer, it was obvious. But the solution required an act that the Precursors had once sworn off. Resurrection was near taboo, even for their vast power. But her fate had been chosen years ago, the Precursors already deciding that she, among others, was to be part of the epic story of the world that drifted below them. It had to be done.

The leader sighed, hopping off of his perch to get closer to the melting pile of… elf. It was disgusting, both the sight and the knowledge that eco could be used in such a way. He touched some of the soft hair that had once belonged to the young elf. It came loose from the scalp. Letting the strands drop to the floor, he beckoned the other two ottsels to his side. They'd have to do this very carefully, and it would not be easy for the girl.

"Well… let us begin."

"Will she, like, know anything when she wakes up?"

"A name. She's frail, so that's all we can give her. If she remembered any of her life before, remembered what happened to her, it could destroy her balance. She could lose her mind…"

With great caution, they each held a paw in the air above the dead girl. Their hands glowed softly, pure eco flowing around the curled up figure. As the dead elf's form began to glow and disappear, the Ottsel leader spoke a single word.

"Kaila."

And that was the last thing she heard, before she woke up.


	2. Chapter 1

A/N – Did a COMEPLETELY new chapter one, realizing that I really wanted that waking up scene in there. I think that just kind of… jumping in to her predicament worked just as well for the story, and this may even be too much extra crap (please tell me if it is!), but I REALLY wanted that waking up scene. But seriously, if anyone thinks that it's too much random detail, tell me so I can think about shortening it (I really added all the detail because I can always see this scene playing out in my mind, and I really like it). :3 But seriously, enough babbling from me. Start reading.

(((((o)))))

Eyes attempted to open, fluttering shut at the small amount of invading daylight. Head ached dully, body muscles relaxed but sore. What the hell happened?

Kaila groaned, closing her eyes and reaching up to rub at them. She then attempted to roll over so she could push herself up, but as she rolled, the ground beneath her upper body disappeared. She quickly braced her hands on what felt like slick metal walls to keep her weight balanced toward the solid ground, and attempted to open her eyes again. Her eyes shot open and her breath caught in her throat as she came nearly face to face with a dark purple liquid below her. She didn't know what it was, but she didn't want to find out by falling in it. Kaila's hands fumbled for purchase on what was indeed the wall of the large metal basin, and pushed herself upright.

She took a second to catch her breath and look around her. The ground beneath her was made of the same coppery metal, with a second floor to the structure roughly constructed out of wood. Looking around she noticed a vast ocean to one side of where she sat, and lifeless rocky terrain to the other side. Crouching close to the ground, she risked one more glance into the basin of purple stuff. It bubbled innocently at her. She whimpered and crawled to a safer distance from it, still not liking how it looked.

Once she was determined that her headache had ebbed, as well as the soreness in her muscles and the blurriness in her eyes, she steadily rose to her feet. Walking one way, she realized that the basin was located on a large raised platform, one side of it forming part of the wall of what appeared to be some sort of stadium? She wasn't really sure what the large, round, open space was for, actually.

Walking in a wide circle around the edge of the platform, she realized that the other wall led straight into a small sort of bay. Kaila made a bit of a face at the murkiness of the water, compared to the ocean further out. Then she paused.

"Wait a sec…"

She quickly walked to the other side of the platform, looking around for something. She ran back to the ocean side, looking again. Kaila then walked in a fast circle around the rest of the platform, looking closely.

Crap.

"There's no way down from this thing!"

Plopping down to sit on the ocean side of the platform, she stared out, thinking of a way to get down. Maybe if she got down the same way she got up… here…

"How DID I get up here?"

She thought.

"Where am I anyway?"

She thought some more.

"…"

She glared silently at the ocean as a new bit of info trickled its way into her brain.

She couldn't remember a thing.

And not just about how she got where she was. As she dug through her memory, she realized she had nothing before waking up here. No history. Nothing. Well, there was only one thing to do.

She screamed her frustration to the setting sun, tears prickling at her eyes. As her yell echoed around her, Kaila fell onto her back and sighed, fighting back tears. This sucked. In fact, this couldn't get any worse.

A growl echoed behind her, and she glanced up to a pair of red eyes in a hairy purple face.

Well, spoke too soon.

Kaila yelled again as she barely rolled out of the creature's huge, grabbing hands. She ran to the other side of the platform, and the thing followed her in a slow, uneven, lunging run. She ran from it again, to the other side of the platform. It followed her again. This went on for a minute or two, Kaila even daring to climb the wooden bridge that went over the purple pool, despite how rickety it looked. When the thing finally caught up with her, something in her seemed to rise to the surface. As the creature reached for her, she ducked under its grip, coming at it with an uppercut to the chin. The creature was stunned for only a second, but just long enough for Kaila to come around with a round kick to its side. It flew off of the platform, into the ocean.

Kaila looked at her own fist for a moment, wondering where her previous performance came from, but was interrupted from her musings by a horrible grunting yell from below. She glanced over the edge, seeing the furry creature flailing in the water. Kaila's heart clenched as she realized it couldn't swim, and almost dove in after the poor drowning creature, but it found purchase on a rock before it succumbed to the deep. Kaila sighed with a bit of disappointment, but mostly relief. She didn't want the thing attacking her, but she didn't want to kill it either. Sitting sorely on its little rock, the creature looked up at her, shaking its fist at her and grunting what she assumed to be some very inconsiderate swearing.

"Well, you kind of deserve it for chasing me!" she yelled at it. It only grunted, and crossed its arms to pout.

Smirking a little, she jumped when a voice sounded behind her.

"Kaila."

She turned around slowly, expecting to find another monster. She almost relaxed as she realized it was, instead, two people. She tightened up again though. Something about them felt… wrong. She took in their drab grey skin, and bleached and dried out hair. They seemed to look older than they probably were, although Kaila couldn't be sure. Their expressions were calm, but not quite… nice, was the best word she could come up with. Kaila didn't know what she was looking at, but something in her told her these people were bad. Something about them just seemed… unhealthy. The woman had spoken to her first, her voice clear but with a hint of a metallic sound to it. However, when the man spoke, it took all her will power to not cover her ears from the grating sound.

"Kaila. We see you're still… around." Kaila perked a little at the statement.

"A-around?"

The woman looked slightly guilty at that, but the man looked more… curious, perhaps? Kaila wasn't sure what the emotion on the man's face was, only that it looked like it took all of his willpower to keep it there, like the muscles in his face didn't quite work. The three of them were silent for a few moments, simply sizing each other up. Kaila broke the silence.

"Who are you?"

The man and woman glanced at each other, apparently surprised (or what Kaila assumed was supposed to be surprise on the man's face).

"Kaila, we-"

"Nevermind that now!" the man interrupted harshly. He took a deep and raspy breath before he spoke again. "We have more important things to attend to. You should go back to the citadel so you don't get in the way again. Come here."

Kaila cringed at his harsh breathing, and then what he said sunk in. She stared at his outstretched hand like it was diseased (which, for all she knew, it was).

"Wait, what? I'm not going anywhere with you! I don't even know you!"

The woman looked the slightest bit hurt, but the man's face contorted in what she supposed what either a glare or annoyance.

"Young lady, you are going back to the citadel right now." He moved forward with a speed that belied his frail body, grabbing her by the arm. As she went to remove his hand (whether from her or entirely, she wasn't sure) the woman took a hold of her other arm.

"Kaila. Please…"

Kaila gasped even as she struggled, feeling her feet leave the ground. She screamed a little as she looked down, seeing the ground a good few feet below her. She began to struggle more, the same feeling of hidden strength from before coming to her once again. She managed to break their grasps, falling back to the metal platform. She barely gave them a second glance, before leaping off of the platform and into the stadium area.


	3. Chapter 2

A/N – And THIS is now chapter two. SO, you are now graced with 2 chapters and a prologue. I plan on editing all of them, in order, and then continuing my writing of chapter 3 (which is almost done, actually, just need to finish it out).

(((((o)))))

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

The scream echoed around Misty Island as Kaila scrambled over a rock, dodging the swing of a club from one of the pursuing creatures. It tripped, flying over her as she ducked and scrambled for another opening in the rocks. This was not the best day she had ever had (not, she noted, that she could remember any other days). First, she woke up with a HUGE headache and no clue where she was, followed by almost rolling into a pool of dark purple goo. Then these two people (if you could call them that) appeared in front of her. If their ashy skin and raspy voices weren't scary enough, they then spoke to her as if they knew her and then tried to pick her up and float (yes, FLOAT) away with her. And now, after fighting her way out of their grasp, refusing to go with them, they sent these huge… huge THINGS to chase after her. Oh, and to top it off? She was stuck on an island in the middle of the ocean. Great.

As she ducked through a smaller opening in the rocks, taking a short reprieve from the chase, she noticed something. A dock on a grey sandy beach. A possible escape! After seeing that one creature (the word lurker poked at her somewhere in the back of her thoughts, but she was too scared to care at the moment) from earlier fall into the water and almost drown, she hoped it was a universal thing, and that the makeshift dock and the impending ocean ahead of her was her only salvation. A growl sounded behind her. Another scream as a troop of the smaller purple creatures dove at her, grabbing at her hair and limbs as she ran. She leapt from the wooden dock and into the water, the creatures that held on to her letting go in favor of fighting their way back to land. She flailed against the tide, trying to get as far from the island as fast as possible.

Something brushed past her leg.

Kaila paused, looking frantically around her, trying to see what had touched her. Quickly deciding that she may be better suited to fight off monsters on land, she began to swim back to the island. But not before noticing the vertical fin sticking out of the water. She wasn't quite sure about the shape or size of the fish, but it had teeth and they were coming towards her! This day was getting worse and worse.

Flailing back in the direction of the island, the adrenaline in her system allowed her to quickly haul herself onto the dock, laying flat on her back until she had a chance to catch her breath. Luckily the hairy purple creatures that had chased her seemed to have very short attention spans, and had wandered off. Once she was able to breathe calmly again, she glanced around. There had to be some way to get off of the island. She noticed a few piles of wood, most of which had huge bite marks in them. Kaila sighed, thinking that said bites were probably from that fish. Walking to a pile of driftwood, she noticed what appeared to be the leftovers of a boat (or at least enough of a solid surface to float on). Perfect.

Grabbing a sturdier looking stick and dragging the solid piece of wood to the water's edge, she settled carefully onto the surface. Cautiously, Kaila started paddling. So far, so good. As she passed the shark-like fish, it growled menacingly and snapped at her. She stuck her tongue out at it and kicked its face, letting out a "humph" as it swam away dejectedly.

She sighed as she saw how far away land was, but she'd be damned if she was going to go back to that island.

(((((The Following Morning)))))

Jak always seemed to drag Daxter out of bed before he was ready. Admittedly, "ready" for Daxter was any time past noon, but Jak was his best friend… his only friend. In Daxter's mind, what other choice did he have?

Racing Jak was one of Daxter's only strong points. He may have been clumsy and weak, but his smaller frame meant he could run pretty fast (if there was nothing in the way to trip him). They ran through the village, neck and neck. As they reached the first bridge on the way to Samos' hut, Jak got his chance and shoved Daxter off of the bridge, into the sand and salt water below.

"PTU! BLECH!" Daxter spit the salty sand out of his mouth, glaring in the direction of Jak's laughter. He got up, and looked to the grassy ground above, trying to figure out how to climb up. Speaking of, climbing was another thing he wasn't very good at. Neither was looking where he was going, he noted, as he tripped over a piece of wood and fell on something soft and wet. He looked down at what appeared to be the body of a person.

"A dead body?" He thought about that for a second. "A DEAD BODY? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

(((((At Samos' Hut)))))

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

"Daxter, you idiot! Quit screaming!" Samos cut off Daxter's yelling with a solid swing of his cane into redhead's face. "Now what could possibly be so important that you had to interrupt my morning routine?"

"Jak! Girl! Beach! Dead body! Downstairs! Now!" He paused. "DEAD BODY!"

Samos rubbed his eyes as he tried to make sense of the boy's excited rambling. He held up a hand to (hopefully) stop Daxter from speaking for just a moment. He sighed.

"Just… show me."

Daxter, who by now was hopping from one foot to the other and had his hands flailing around in an effort to pantomime what had happened, ran from the hut. He ran back and pointed in the direction of the problem. Then he left again. Then he came back and flailed his arms some more, this time adding some incomprehensible whining. He disappeared once more, before poking his head back in the doorway, yelling once, and leaving again. Samos cocked an eyebrow.

Samos floated down to where Daxter stood, flailing in the direction of the sand below. As he descended, Jak's bright hair appeared, followed by the rest of him, with what appeared to be a person tossed over his shoulder. Jak adjusted the body to be cradled in his arms, and one look at the girl was all Samos needed.

"Oh, dear. Bring her here, Jak, bring her upstairs."

(((((In the Following Days)))))

So tired.

"…daddy… she doing?..."

Could hear voices.

"… not a dead body?... STILL asleep?..."

Can't open her eyes. Too tired. Too… tired…

"… don't know, my boy… back later…"

Should probably get up soon. Been sleeping too long. Time to wake up.

"…Jak…"

(((((o)))))

Kaila stirred. She opened her eyes, sat up. Her mind was still in such a fog. She leaned toward the window, resting her forehead on the cool glass. Her hand came up to rub her hair, just barely noting how oily it was from days of not being washed.

Still smelled of salt water.

Or was that the air?

She glanced over her arm, looking out the window. She noticed something in the distance.

A boat?

Kaila rubbed her eyes and squinted. A boat. With… two people. Red. Bright red hair. Red and green. The people who found her? Looking past them, an island. The island she swam from? They were heading to the island? Oh, no. Not that island. No

"No…"

Kaila's eyes flew open. She bolted upright, gasped, and pressed her face against the glass. The island looked barely less ominous in the daylight, but no boat.

"A dream?"

Kaila brushed her hair off of her face, glancing around the room. It was cozy, small. Just a bed and a dresser, a mirror hanging on the wall, two open windows and an open frame for a door. It was the most comfortable place she could remember seeing in years… days. Kaila rolled her eyes, ironically remembering that she couldn't remember anything before waking up on that island.

"Misty Island."

Kaila's head swung around to face the owner of the voice. He was a strange looking man, the logs he had strapped to his feet making him look taller than he really was. A bird flitted around another log that was on his head, occasionally stopping to pick something (bugs?) off of his green tunic. But the smile hidden in his long beard was kindly, and Kaila felt she could trust him. He was certainly less scary than those pale freaks who tried to carry her off earlier. Remembering what he said a moment ago, she responded.

"What?" The man chuckled.

"You were staring out the window for a few minutes there. And the only thing you can see out that window is ocean and Misty Island."

"Misty Island." She glanced over her shoulder, shivering when she remembered what happened over there. "Scary place."

"You have been there?"

"It's where I… woke up. I guess." The man gave her a concerned look.

"My name is Samos, the green eco sage. And I believe we have much to discuss."


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 is here, and this is where the story really starts to interact with (read: mess up) the game.

Also, I'm gonna put this here now, because it's probably required (or at least appreciated) to some extent, but I have nothing to do with the creation or ownership of the game and/or canon characters, copyright naughty dog, etc. etc. Whatever.

This chapter's posting will be followed by much editing of the story so far, while I figure out where the next chapter will start.

(((((o)))))

"...the Precursors? Why did they create the vast monoliths that liter our planet? How did they harness Eco, the life energy of the world? What was their purpose? And why…"

Kaila had to admit that this was her fault. Samos had left her to bathe and Keira (his daughter) brought her the clothes that they had cleaned. After she was dressed Keira sent her up to speak with Samos, where he began to ask her about herself. After introducing herself, she stopped short. Kaila then admitted that all she could remember was what happened to her on Misty Island, followed by waking up here. She explained what happened on the island and was both shocked and slightly excited to learn that those creatures that chased her WERE called Lurkers. Maybe her memory wasn't as lost as she first thought? However, Samos could not explain who the two people were that tried to carry her off.

"… asked the rocks, but the rocks do not recall. Even the rocks…"

After housing her, helping her heal, cleaning her clothes, and listening to her story, Kaila had only thought it polite to ask about him. So she asked him what an eco sage was.

"… uninterested in the search for truth, and rejecting of my guidance! And why would he want to listen to old Samos the sage, anyway? I'm only the master of Green Eco, one of the wisest men on the planet!"

And now she was stuck here, listening to a story about the world and eco and some other stuff that she didn't understand. Quite frankly the story had gone on way too long for her apparently short attention span.

"…begins with but a small act of disobedience."

As the sage's story came to its apparent close, a small creak sounded from the floor by the doorway. Kaila turned to see a young man, probably about her age, with the most shocking blonde-green hair she had ever seen (once again her thoughts reminded her that this was out of the grand total of 5 or 6 people that she could remember seeing, ever). He smiled brightly upon seeing her.

"What in green tarnation do you two want?" Both Kaila and the young man jumped at the sudden outburst from the older man. However, Kaila's attention was quickly drawn to the small rodent at the green-haired guy's feet, as it argued with Samos. Yes, seeing a small animal talking (yelling) was one thing, but something poked at the back of her mind when she looked at the small orange creature. Orange. Orange… hair?

Kaila smiled at Keira when she showed up at the door, and settled to staring out the window as Keira joined the confusing conversation between Samos and the small creature. She still felt some familiarity from that orange creature, something about bright orange hair, but she couldn't quite wrap her mind around it. Eventually Samos shooed the young man and the talking pet into the glowing contraption he called a warp gate. After they left, he apologized to Kaila for the interruption and promised to help her with her memory problems later, after he worked out this new "problem". Keira led her out of the room, leaving Samos rambling and cursing. Some very unpleasant-sounding threats about rats and dark eco and something to do with an ice pick followed the girls down the stairs. Keira rolled her eyes. As she moved to her work space, she gestured at a stool for Kaila to sit on.

"Sorry about all the confusion. Those guys go wandering off all the time. They were bound to get in to trouble this deep eventually. Daxter especially. But still, I thought even THEY knew not to go to Misty Island."

Kaila perked up.

"Misty Island? That's where they were? I-I saw them! I mean, I saw the boat. I could have woken up, I could have stopped them! I mean how stupid would you be anyway, to go to a place like that. It's freakin' scary, has all those monsters, er, lurkers running around and those two creepy people, and there is NO way to get off…"

Kaila's rant trailed off as she realized how animated she was getting. Keira gave her a friendly smirk. There was silence for a while, she and Keira not really knowing what to talk about. As far as they knew, they had nothing in common. While Keira worked on the zoomer she had spoken of earlier, Kaila's mind again wandered. All of what she was experiencing was so new, the information trying to process in her mind. New places, new people, new… animals. Her mind began to ponder over that strange creature again. Something so familiar…

"Hey, Kaila? It is Kaila, right?" Snapped out of her reverie, Kaila's head swiveled to face Keira. Seeing that as an affirmative, she continued. "Can I ask you something? I mean, if you can answer it, that is."

Kaila nodded slowly.

"This might be too forward, but where did you get that scar? Was it from Misty Island?"

There was no noise in the room as second ticked by. All the air seemed to leave the space, the only sound being Keira's screwdriver as it stopped and was set on the ground. Keira looked with questioning concern at the girl sitting on the stool a few feet away. More seconds passed.

"… scar?"

Though she didn't know why, Kaila's hand absently rose toward her neck.

Stumbling slightly, Kaila quickly made her way to the room she woke up in, to the mirror hanging on the wall. She stared. Keira followed her. The poor girl looked like she had been hit by Keira's zoomer. Kaila's hand rose to her neck again, this time slightly to the right of her trachea.

A scar.

Dark and purple, like an absurd bruise, it lay just above the nape of her neck. It seemed to twist around and curl up her neck, and down to her shoulder. The scar wasn't huge, but stood out in stark contrast to her paler skin.

Kaila blinked before her head began to pound with unknown memories. Pain shot through the scar on her neck, before she nearly passed out again. Keira was soon by her side, helping her back into the workshop area, making sure she was stable while seated and handing her a glass of water.

(((((A while later)))))

Since seeing the previously unknown scar on her neck, and having Keira help to calm down her, Kaila had been quiet. She offered to help Keira, and handed her tools as Keira asked for them, but no other talking filled the workshop. Kaila's ears perked a little as she heard a thump from upstairs and some talking. Both she and Keira jumped when Samos yelled "GET OUT OF HERE!" They looked at each other and laughed, only stopping when the green-haired guy and the small orange weasel appeared downstairs.

"Hey, baby! Whaddya say you and I go crusin' on this A-Grav Zoomer?" Keira gave him a disgusted look.

"Rule number one: I don't date animals."

Kaila wasn't as surprised this time when the animal began to speak… flirt, actually, with Keira. She sat silently to the side, taking in the odd conversation; something about the 'zoomer' Keira was working on and precursor orbs (whatever those were). Once Keira shot down the rodent's advances for the third or fourth time, he seemed to take the hint. Finally noticing Kaila, he sauntered over, winking at her. The guy with the green hair rolled his eyes hopelessly.

"Well hey there, sleeping beauty. Name's Daxter. How's about you an' me take a little stroll on the beach, huh?" He made a kissy face at her. Kaila snorted, but smiled.

"Sorry, I have to side with Keira on this one. I'm not an animal dater." The animal continued to stare at her (and she was quite sure it wasn't her face he was looking at). "If you still wanted to go for that walk, though, I bet I could find a leash somewhere." Keira coughed in an attempt to cover her laughing, and the green-haired guy giggled behind his hand. That got Daxter's attention, and he deflated, then glared over his shoulder his friend. He began to argue vehemently with the young man, moaning about 'betrayal of friendship' or something like that. As she listened to the rodent's yelling though, it hit her. The bright orange hair, that annoying voice. It couldn't be…

"Wait…" The animal was still glaring at his friend, but the guy looked up at her expectantly. Kaila got down on her knees right behind Daxter. He turned to glare at her instead. "You were him weren't you? The guy who found me. Right?"

Daxter's eyes widened in surprise. He looked up at the young man, who shrugged at him, and then looked back at Kaila.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah! Sure, we'll go with that." The green-haired guy rolled his eyes again, but smiled at Kaila. She smiled back, and then turned to Daxter again, smiling sweetly at him.

"Thank you." Daxter looked at her, then gave her what she assumed was supposed to be a macho face, polishing his fingers on his chest. But Kaila's face quickly turned to one of strange confusion. "What the hell happened to you?"

Fresh bursts of laughter from Keira and Jak sounded from the bottom level of the sage's home, mingled with Daxter's yells of annoyance, and Kaila's attempted apologies around her giggling.


End file.
